Essay 4
How does place shape Kiyoshi identity?
After reading “All I Asking For is My Body” I began to question was this story about a typical Japanese family or did circumstance make this family interact the way it did? According to Webster culture is the knowledge, values, goals, practices and beliefs shared by a society. Our culture uniquely shapes us into what we think we should be. Two things shaped Kiyoshi’s identity, being Japanese and living in Hawaii in the 1930’s and 40’s. Plantation life and family culture are important factors in understanding the context that makes “All I Asking For is My Body” relatable to today’s reader.
Plantation life on Hawaii involved working in the sugar fields. This was back breaking work in harsh conditions. The workers were in the fields six to seven days a week, 10 hours a day and where paid a very low wage. If they missed a day of work they were often required to work double that time to make up for it. Plantation life was very structured. A caste system was used to maintain plantation life. This is a system of social stratification; an important group identifier. Caste systems are used to segregate, discriminate and oppress the people in them. Sometimes groups within the caste system will discriminate against others groups; identifying them by their mode of speaking or dress, as with Makot’s family. The caste system was used to divide the camps, on the plantation, based on ethnic identity. This allowed the plantation boss to retain control. The companies owned the houses, the stores and ran the mess hall and the bathhouses. They provided the doctor, hospital, schools and even ran the railroad. Many plantations housed more than 3,000 people employing at least 1,000 of them. Working for low wages there was little left over after everyday things and it was impossible to get ahead.
When workers went on strike to get higher wages and better working conditions they were replaced by other immigrant groups. These groups were given a slightly higher wage as an incentive but, when the strikes were over the wages went back down. Farmers from Japan, allowed to migrate to Hawaii, were mostly members of the lower caste. They grabbed at the chance to better themselves, something not possible for them in Japan. Plantation life was not so different from the life they lived in Japan. Poverty and hard work was accepted and only surpassed by the high Japanese virtues of obligation, duty and loyalty. In this story when Mr. Snook, the eight grade teacher wanted the Japanese children to become less submissive he told them, “Freedom means being your own boss,” the children responded that “freedom means being a plantation boss.” (pg. 34)
The sugar plantation system affected life in Hawaii physically, politically and economically. With each wave of immigrants came new religions, new animals and plants, new cuisines and a plantation language known as pidgin or da`kine. With a better understanding of plantation life looking at Japanese culture will let us see if place or culture affected Kiyoshi’s identity more.
To understand the foundation of this story better let’s look at Japanese culture. Japanese people lived in an agricultural environment that was structured in the caste system. Born into their place in society it was almost impossible to change their status. Japanese families believed that the family unit is more important than the individual. Japanese people feel separated by their sense of uniqueness. They have a basic identity of race and culture that is distinct from others. Over centuries their interpersonal relationships have shaped their language, what actual words mean and their social manners. Ingrained into Japanese people is importance of not offending, disappointing or inconveniencing others. If this is done, even if there is a slight chance, it can cause shame and embarrassment. These things are to be avoided at all cost.
To gain further knowledge of Japanese people one must look into how important their religion is to them. Japanese people usually practice Buddhism and Confucianism. Buddhism introduced a mystical dimension that transcends the natural world into the Japanese way of life. It gives room for superstitions, the concept of luck, “saving face”, buying good fortune and belief in the afterlife. According to Wikipedia; the main idea of Confucianism is the cultivation of virtue and the development of moral perfection. It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical and religious thought. Two of its main themes are “Filial Piety” the respect a child must show to their parents both living and dead and the concept of social harmony. Social harmony is the practice of everyone knowing their place in the social order and playing that part well. These religions also place an importance on education and hard work, stress order, emphasize loyalty and personal relationships and dictate standards of behavior.
Japanese people believe that a two parent household is preferable and that family responsibility takes precedence over everything else. The family decides the fate of the individual members. Kiyoshi’s father was the head of the family but it was his mother that influenced the children’s way of thinking. She had an obligation to her family this obligation was fulfilled through acquiescence and service. She installed certain values in her children. Values are the beliefs of a person or social group in which someone has a personal investment. As a part of Japanese culture superstitions are common and the idea of luck is an important part of their life. Japanese people believe that certain numbers are unlucky for example: 4 because it is also the word for death and 9 because it also is the word for suffering. They also believe that their luck is based on many things and that it can be actively changed.
In this story Kiyoshi’s mother used superstitions to teach her children lessons and to serve as a means of practical advice. She believed that “saving face” was important even if that meant pretending nothing was wrong. Kiyoshi’s mother used “saving face” as a way to control her family. To lose face was to risk exposure and shame. Kiyoshi’s mother told him repeatedly that poor families had to stay united and that to act on ones own was to be selfish. Her main concern was to keep the boys home until the family debt was paid off thus saving the families honor.
According to Japanese customs, the accepted or habitual practices followed by people of a particular group, family comes first. They believe in interdependence not independence. Interdependence stresses unspoken responsibilities inherent to acceptance and participation with-in the group. When the need arises the individual is expected to meet and honor these responsibilities. It is the duty of the children, particularly the sons to help support the family. Accepted norms for Japanese families during this time period were gender based, the father was the bread winner and the wife was responsible for the household, family life was not expected to interfere with the husbands’ life. Care for the aged was the families’ responsibility and the family determined its individuals life chances. These norms were present in Kiyoshi’s family. One more and especially important norm the Oyama family observed was the preserving of the family household resources that were to be handed down to the next generation, including all debts.
After looking at the Japanese culture that was present at the time of this story it is easier to see that Kiyoshi was living the life his family expected him to. It was his cultural duty to help the family as a whole, to share in the weight of the debt owed and to work to pay it off. If not Hawaii he would have been in the same situation in Japan. The working of the land was their way of life; the debt was the entire families until it was paid. Growing up Kiyoshi questions his parents, as children do, about why he couldn’t play with certain children, why he couldn’t stay in school and why his older brother couldn’t do what he wanted to with his life. He also understood his duty to the family and accepted, in a typical teenage way that he would do what the family needed. Kiyoshi loved his family.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Kiyoshi questioned his values. Why had it been a sneak attack? He grew afraid that his loyalty would be questioned. This was a time when the importance of duty and “saving face” installed in him by his mother came into play with his individual character. Volunteering to go to war meant that he had earned the right to complain about his situation and participate in changing it. He had earned the right to a future. This might seem like an individual choice but it was also a choice that showed Japanese loyalty to the United States as a whole, for his group. However, with him he carried his family obligation the debt. When he found a way to pay the family debt I feel he turned his luck around. The irony of it all is that he had to go to war to do so.
With the information given about plantation life in Hawaii during this time period and a new understanding of Japanese culture it is easier to reconcile the story of Kiyoshi and his family. To not look at the fact that the children had to work to pay off a debt that was not theirs. The debt belonged to the family. Yes they lived in poverty and yes the children questioned their parent’s beliefs but so do many children today. “All I Asking For is My Body” is about family and culture, commitment and duty. It is a story that today’s reader can relate too.
